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Action Research for Sustainable Water Futures in Western Sydney: Reaching Beyond Traditional Stakeholder Engagement to Understand Community Stakeholder Language and Its Implications for Action

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Abstract

Action on issues of ecological significance often requires changes in personal behaviour and political consensus on technologies to support these changes. Unfortunately, many consultation processes only engage a narrow range of stakeholders, usually those professionally engaged or already active on a range of community issues. This paper illustrates how people who are ‘hard to reach’ or seen as ‘apathetic’ might be engaged using ‘action-conversations’ that explore the social climate for action and how scientific/technical messages can be framed in the language of the community.

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Acknowledgements

This paper would not have been possible without significant contributions of the other members of the collaborative group of staff and undergraduate students including: Samsul Huda, Gary Wallace, Qaiyum Parvez, Roger Packham, Sam Lowe, Jen Hens, Tom Calthorpe, Graham Bryson, and Joshua White.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, South Penrith Distribution Centre, Sydney, NSW, 1797, Australia

    Tony Webb, Shelley Burgin & Basant Maheshwari

Authors
  1. Tony Webb
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  2. Shelley Burgin
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  3. Basant Maheshwari
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Correspondence to Shelley Burgin.

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Webb, T., Burgin, S. & Maheshwari, B. Action Research for Sustainable Water Futures in Western Sydney: Reaching Beyond Traditional Stakeholder Engagement to Understand Community Stakeholder Language and Its Implications for Action. Syst Pract Action Res 22, 1–14 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-008-9102-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-008-9102-z

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